


looking for the answers (in the pouring rain)

by odinstark



Category: Detroit Evolution (2020), Detroit Evolution - Fandom, Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Android Gore (Detroit: Become Human), Detectives, Detroit Evolution spoilers, Detroit Police Department (Detroit: Become Human), Established Relationship, F/F, First Dates, Fluff, Investigations, M/M, Minor Injuries, Nightmares, Other, Politics, Post Detroit Evolution, Post-Pacifist Best Ending (Detroit: Become Human), Public Display of Affection, Relationship Negotiation, Threats of Violence, Trans Androids (Detroit: Become Human), Violence Against Androids (Detroit: Become Human)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-20
Updated: 2020-04-20
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:07:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23752069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/odinstark/pseuds/odinstark
Summary: After the events of Detroit Evolution, it's back to business at the DPD. With Ada's killing spree stopped, and the woman in question far from Detroit (hopefully), the rate of Android against Android crimes have dropped into the negatives...right?Nines and Gavin race against the clock to catch the seemingly Copy Cat Killer, but it seems less and less likely at every step that they don't already know who is the killer.At least Connor's back.Markus and the other leaders of Jericho have to fight for every step of the way to secure rights for Androids but its slow going after they lost their liaison for inter Android-Human negotiations. Where did she go, by the way?
Relationships: Ada & Nines, Chris Miller & Upgraded Connor | RK900 & Gavin Reed, Connor & Simon (Detroit: Become Human), Connor & Upgraded Connor | RK900, Connor/Markus (Detroit: Become Human), Hank Anderson & Connor, Josh/Simon (Detroit: Become Human), Tina Chen & Chris Miller & Gavin Reed, Tina Chen & Upgraded Connor | RK900, Tina Chen/Valerie, Upgraded Connor | RK900 & Markus, Upgraded Connor | RK900 & North, Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed
Comments: 5
Kudos: 65





	looking for the answers (in the pouring rain)

**Author's Note:**

> Fair warning to anyone that's reading this just for domestic ninesgavin content, that's not just what this fic is about. It's focused more on the greater whole of everything post the ending of Detroit Evolution. The narrative won't just follow our two boys, I don't have the attention span.

The DPD's bullpen was always a rumble of various sounds at this time of day. It seemed like crime never stopped for lunch, so even while coffee brewed noisily in the break room, emphasised by the toaster _pops!_ and the loud squeaks of the fridge door, you could distinctly pick out the grumble of the petty criminals huffing around the holding cell, all somehow not talking to each other but still causing the noise you'd expect in a classroom when the teacher leaves, when they weren't cursing out the police officers under their breath.

Nines glanced around the office once more before directing his visual attention back to the conversation at hand. He hadn't missed much information wise as his audio processors picked up every single sound in the department, a small smile graced its way onto his lips when he noticed Gavin ~~pouting~~ frowning as Tina stole the last of the candy sitting on the now empty bag on his desk.

"Hey," Gavin scowled but his friend just shook his fake annoyance off and grinned back at him,

"I bought those."

"I called dibs, Reed, you're a big boy, you can figure out how that works," Tina snarked at the Detective. From the corner of Nines' eye he could see Chris bite his lip in the way he'd come to realise humans did when they were trying not to laugh.

"Fine, Chen, you wanna play this game? See next time you buy muffins, I'm eating the last one," Gavin retorted and Nines was glad to see that the man was in a happy enough mood to joke along. Usually it took another shot of caffeine to get him in the spirits.

"Oh, so that's where you want to go-"

Nines' smile widened as the conversation continued. He looked away from his friends for a moment, from his position of being perched on the edge of Gavin's desk. His desk was currently occupied by Chris, his chair stolen when he'd returned from the breakroom with Gavin's standard lunch time meal, a black coffee with three sugars and an apple. At least he was trying to eat some fruit.

But Nines didn't really mind their current situation that much, not when the hand he was resting against the table was carefully covered with Gavin's own as he returned to the table, as a silent thank you. With all the the clutter on Gavin's desk, Nines supposed that no one could see their hands intertwined unless they were less than five feet away from the two of them, but Nines didn't feel upset that Gavin was choosing to keep their relationship subtle.

In fact, Nines agreed. It...suited them. Neither of them were flashy people individually, as much as Gavin declared him so, and it made sense that their relationship was a lot quieter than Tina and Valerie's publicly. The two of them still needed to work out exactly what they were, as it felt like their relationship had no words, no definition. But again, Nines didn't mind, because it was theirs.

But one day, he supposed, he'd like to walk the streets of Detroit with Gavin, hand in hand.

Nines thought he had begun to 'space out' as Hank liked to describe he and Connor's special brand of heavy thought, where they began to relive the video files of their memories, as it seemed like the sound from bullpen grew quieter in his ear drums. But no file was executing, so that couldn't be the case.

As he blinked back to his group, he caught the end of Gavin's sentence.

"And yeah I just-...Why the fuck did it it get so quiet in here?"

Nines looked around at the desks. Phones still rang, monitors were buzzing but all conversations has seemed to die out, or be reduced to whispers. Every officer, every detective, hell even the suspects crammed into the holding cells were non-verbal, and all staring in the same direction.

Nines looked over in the same direction as time slowed down. He played back the audio from the last fifteen seconds in his head.

"I'm here to see Detective Nines, I called ahead," a melodic voice filled Nines' head.

A _click_ then-

"Of course, I see your meeting has been pushed forward to today. Go right ahead, Detective Nines' desk is to the left when you enter, have a nice day, Markus."

"Thank you."

Ah, that explains it. 

Time was still slow when Nines exited the sound bite, and the android looked up to see the familiar mismatched eyes and long coat that were the calling card of the Deviant leader. Beside him was North, easily identified by her calculating look and strong strides. 

Nines mentally swiped away his reconstruction program and glanced back down at Gavin, who rolled his eyes.

"Ah, that explains it," the Detective muttered, echoing Nines' thoughts. A blue blur raced past across Nines' vision and was at Markus' side in a second. Nines wasn't even surprised that Connor was talking with Markus by the next time he blinked.

"Eugh, gross. Chris, come with me to get more coffee, I don't want to have to watch his brother and Robo-Jesus flirt."

Chris laughs and gets out of his seat with his empty mug, thankfully not noticing the android that arrived with Markus. Nines noticed Gavin's gaze darting between North and Chris and Nines quickly caught on. Yes, better not to have another confrontation about Capital Park, not here, and certainly not with North, who was more...explosive, than Parker had been.

"He's not my b-..." Nines lowered his eyebrows at Gavin but his frustration levelled out when the man smiled and gently squeezed his hand before entering the kitchen with Chris. Nines' let the finger tips of his left hand brush against the back of his right, which was slowly retracting back into the synthetic skin, tracing the area that Gavin has covered up with his own palm.

Tina eyes bulged in suggestion, her grin hidden by the cup she'd lifted to her lips. 

"..Shut up," Nines rebutted weakly and gracefully jumped off the desk, before walking towards the android congregation.

Markus and Connor were still deep in conversation, but the three had thankfully moved to a quieter corner of the department away from the traffic of the bullpen, by the time Nines arrived.

North was pleased to have someone to talk to while the RK models finished their reunion. 

"I can't believe it's been six months since the first time they openly flirted with each other and they're still not dating...It's gross," North declared in a hush whisper, with her hands on her hips.

"It is a bit...much," Nines agreed, and let out a puff of laughter as he noticed the blue undertones in both of the androids faces, the most akin to blushing they could replicate.

He and North weren't exactly friends, but she was someone Nines had known the voice of longest, even before Connor's. But they could carry a conversation, especially if it was about two of the most oblivious prototypes in all of Detroit.

"So, what about you, hot-shot? You have any luck while we were in Washington?" North raised a curious eyebrow at him, with a devious smirk to match.

Nines froze momentarily, torn between what to answer, but his saviour came in the form of Markus. 

"Nines! It's good to see you too," Markus held out a friendly hand and Nines shook it, before he was trapped in a warm embrace, arms pinned uselessly at his sides as Markus hugged him.

"You too, Markus," Nines replied with a half annoyed-half sincere tone,

"I wasn't expecting you until tomorrow."

"Yeah, we finished up early so we got the first flight back home this morning. I hope we're not bothering you?"

"I mean I was about to have lunch..." Nines drawled, humour clear in his eyes,

"But I can make time for you. Please, follow me."

Connor retreated with a promise to call the leader tonight, with a smile that made North fake gag from its sweetness, and the three-strong android party entered an empty meeting room down the hall.

"So, any progress on the Body Snatcher?" North asked when they all had settled in to chairs.

"...That name made its way to Washington?" Nines asked, his hand pausing over the interface square, momentarily put out.

A few local Detroit gossip journals had caught wind of the string of android murders, and dubbed the killer "Body Snatcher" on account that they had stolen biocomponents from each one of their marks. It was a stupid name, and in Nines personal opinion, didn't even make sense, since they weren't actually stealing bodies, only parts. But he never said it out loud... At least to someone that wasn't Gavin.

"I'm subscribed to the Heartz News page, I like the conspiracy theories," North answered, with a wink.

"Don't lie," Markus chimed in, "You're there for the gossip columns. Also, we are _not_ calling them the Body Snatcher."

North grumbled as Markus caught her out in her lie, and Nines smiled before continuing on,

"Of course not. We just refer to it as the Docks case in passing. Here's everything we have so far," Nines projected their findings up onto the board in front of them.

"No new cases?" Markus seemed relieved,

"Not that we've seen. And violent android deaths basically dropped to zero since we raided the warehouse."

"No new clues as to their identity?" North asked, as she studied the warehouse pictures, as if she would see a face hidden in the background.

Nines swallowed, even though he didn't have to. 

"None."

Markus sighed, but it seemed more than just frustration. 

Nines' eyes roamed over the leader, taking in his stress levels and battery percentage.

"Are you okay, Markus? You seem..tired."

The android rubbed a hand over his eye, 

"I'm fine...Just a bit out of place. North and I usually don't have to do the Washington trip alone, but because Ada is gone, Simon and Josh had to stay. I'm processing a lot right now."

Nines nodded but his thoughts trailed away.

Twelve days ago, Nines had received a transmission in the early morning shift at the DPD from Markus. No one could find Ada and someone had informed him that she was to meet with him the night before last, presumably being the last person who saw her.

Nines had assumed Ada would leave Jericho without notice, but he had thought she would at least leave a note, or send an encrypted message. But obviously, not. 

Nines had went over to the Hub to soothe his friends nerves and perform an investigation on her quarters even if it was not necessary. Markus had worried she had been hurt or killed by the android killer roaming the streets but a quick survey of the room proved otherwise, obviously. Nines pointed out that clothes were missing and the empty spaces on the book shelves were things had been taken and pretended to come to the conclusion that Ada had simply just left. 

He reassured the deviant leader that Ada hadn't been murdered by the rampage. How could she be when she was the one who-

"Nines?" the pressure around his throat alleviated and he blinked away the dark alleyway behind his eyelids.

He looked up and was confused to see the two androids looking at him with concern of various degrees, Markus more than North. Markus began to speak again, 

"Are _you_ okay? Your LED is red."

"Is it..-?" Nines reached up to touch the circular disc and he saw the red glow against his skin. He blinked again and red faded into blue as he forced himself to relax.

"Yes, sorry. I was just thinking of something. Any news from...Ada?" Nines questioned and the case filles blinked off the casefiles from the board.

"No, no...I hope she's okay. It isn't like her to just leave and not tell anyone," North asked, with the sadness in her voice of someone who had lost a companion. 

Nines supposed Ada didn't really tell anyone when she left to go find an android to m-

"I suppose not...But I did not really know her," Nines checked the time on his HUD, for lack of a distraction, 

"If that is all? Gavin and I are expected to relay a report to Captain Fowler in ten minutes."

"Of course, we'll not take anymore of your time. Contact us if you need anything."

"We will," Nines ushered them out of the meeting room and he watched them leave until they were out the front door.

He didn't need to see the reflection in the glass walls to know his LED was a deep red. He met Gavin's eyes across the room, and he felt concern linger in his gaze. 

He really needed a hug right now.


End file.
